An unspoken danger of cruise ship travel

Not diarrhea.  Death.  Here are excerpts from a story in The Guardian:

The [Disney Wonder] has just won the 2010 Condé Nast Traveller crew and service award... There's no talk of it, but many people on board know something terrible occurred on this route – to Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas – earlier this year.  [A 24-year-old woman named Rebecca Coriam "just vanished."]

There have been 171 disappearances in total, across all cruise lines, since 2000. Rebecca is Disney's first... "  Well, the Coriams found out they aren't alone. Almost every two weeks someone goes overboard." Carver says the numbers have reached epidemic proportions and nobody realises it because it's in the industry's power to hush it up...

It's true that passengers on just one ship – the Carnival Valor – reported nine sexual assaults to the FBI in less than one year. "You're on a ship," Carver said. "There's no police. Once you leave the port, you're in international waters. Who do you think is attracted to working on those ships?"

"Do you think your daughter was murdered?" "The answer's yes," he said. "That's the story among the crew." He paused. "Put murder to one side. Just think about the drinking. Royal Caribbean has just started a policy of unlimited drinks for one price. Celebrity is doing it."

There is no proof of any wrongdoing, but the article is thought-provoking.  Via Reddit, where the discussion thread takes note of the immense number of people cruising and the relatively few disappearances.